who are more skillful in spine surgery:othopedics or neurosurgeons?

Answer 1

I'm perhaps somewhat biased, but would (and did, for my own) choose a neurosurgeon to do my spine surgery.

Neurosurgeons are trained in spine (as well as brain and nerve) as part of their residency (7 year program) so they do years of procedures under their chief as opposed to orthopedic surgeons that learn hip, knee, shoulder, etc. and then may do a spine fellowship afterward.

Training is important (knowing when to operate and when not to, in addition to technical skill)...but the most important thing is experience. Ask how many he/she has done and how often the doctor does the procedure and what their complication rates are.

Some ortho spine surgeons limit their practices to spine...and spine is the majority of many neurosurgeon's practices.


Hope that helps!

Answer 2

I think it depends on what type of spine surgery is being done. For any type of disc surgery, I would go to a neurosurgeon. For spinal fusion, I would be more likely to consider an orthopedic spine surgeon. It seems to me (though this is just my observation and I could be wrong) that as a whole, the orthopods do longer and more complicated procedures - and I'm not convinced that it's always needed. Guess if it were me or my family I would probably see the neurons rather than the orthopods.

Answer 3

Depends on the surgery type, most of the time both orthopaedic surgeons and neurosurgeons have to work together.

Orthopaedic surgeons are there to deal with the spine, yet the neurosurgeons are specifically trained to work with the spinal cord, any work on the spinal cord cannot be carried out by an orthopaedic surgeon in the favour of a neurosurgeon.

Answer 4

I work with both, and most of the time, either is fine.

HOWEVER, if I ever have a problem, I'm going to see my neurosurgical friends.

Answer 5

Neither. Because end results of most spinal surgeries are unsatisfactory.